"View from the Capitol"

QUALITY CLIPPINGS
344-0772
CHALLIS MESSENGER
SEP. 15 1994
View from the Capital
By CECIL D. ANDRUS
Governor of Idaho
A round of newspaper articles
last week suggested boycotts in
Idaho if voters pass the anti-gay
rights initiative in November.
The stories said our world-
class resorts and our most fa-
mous commodity - potatoes -
may be targeted by national
groups who will want to make
the state pay for its passage of
the initiative. I don’t believe that
will happen.
But that is not the reason to
vote no on Proposition 1. The
reason to vote no on one is that
it is discriminatory. It is uncon-
stitution. It is wrong.
I was among the first Idahoans
to speak out against the need-
less division of Idaho citizens
this initiative drive would
spawn. Idaho has clearly stated
to the nation and to the world
what our morality is, what we
stand for.
It wasn’t so long ago that we
feared our state might become a
haven for white supremacy
groups who peddle hatred. But
Idaho said no. we passed laws
and we told those people, “You
can’t expect a welcome here.”
Now, new forces of hatred and
intolerance are at work in Idaho.
This divisiveness is carefully
cloaked in themes that will no
doubt attract some, but at its
heart this movement forsakes
morality, abandons humanity.
I ask you: do gays and lesbi-
ans have special rights in idaho?
No. Are they asking for special
rights? No. but even if they
were, they would have to pass
legislation in one of the most
conservative legislatures any-
where and they would have to
get the concurrence of the gov-
ernor. That is not going to hap-
pen.
It doesn’t matter how it is
packaged; singling out some in
our society for discrimination is
the same kind of intolerance
that Idaho has rejected before
and will reject again. The
dreams of the founders of this
nation, and of other great Ameri-
cans such as President Lincoln
and Dr. Martin Luther King -
dreams of equality and respect -
will never come true if we stand
aside and let people form out-
side our state sow the seeds of
division among us.
In Idaho, we value the family
of man. We reject hatred when-
ever and where ever it appears.
We must defeat this misguided
attempt to breach our unity and
to take America away from the
fundamental values that made it
great.
Do the right thing - vote NO on
Proposition 1.

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Full-text

QUALITY CLIPPINGS
344-0772
CHALLIS MESSENGER
SEP. 15 1994
View from the Capital
By CECIL D. ANDRUS
Governor of Idaho
A round of newspaper articles
last week suggested boycotts in
Idaho if voters pass the anti-gay
rights initiative in November.
The stories said our world-
class resorts and our most fa-
mous commodity - potatoes -
may be targeted by national
groups who will want to make
the state pay for its passage of
the initiative. I don’t believe that
will happen.
But that is not the reason to
vote no on Proposition 1. The
reason to vote no on one is that
it is discriminatory. It is uncon-
stitution. It is wrong.
I was among the first Idahoans
to speak out against the need-
less division of Idaho citizens
this initiative drive would
spawn. Idaho has clearly stated
to the nation and to the world
what our morality is, what we
stand for.
It wasn’t so long ago that we
feared our state might become a
haven for white supremacy
groups who peddle hatred. But
Idaho said no. we passed laws
and we told those people, “You
can’t expect a welcome here.”
Now, new forces of hatred and
intolerance are at work in Idaho.
This divisiveness is carefully
cloaked in themes that will no
doubt attract some, but at its
heart this movement forsakes
morality, abandons humanity.
I ask you: do gays and lesbi-
ans have special rights in idaho?
No. Are they asking for special
rights? No. but even if they
were, they would have to pass
legislation in one of the most
conservative legislatures any-
where and they would have to
get the concurrence of the gov-
ernor. That is not going to hap-
pen.
It doesn’t matter how it is
packaged; singling out some in
our society for discrimination is
the same kind of intolerance
that Idaho has rejected before
and will reject again. The
dreams of the founders of this
nation, and of other great Ameri-
cans such as President Lincoln
and Dr. Martin Luther King -
dreams of equality and respect -
will never come true if we stand
aside and let people form out-
side our state sow the seeds of
division among us.
In Idaho, we value the family
of man. We reject hatred when-
ever and where ever it appears.
We must defeat this misguided
attempt to breach our unity and
to take America away from the
fundamental values that made it
great.
Do the right thing - vote NO on
Proposition 1.